Peter V’landys has subpoenaed former NSW minister Brad Hazzard in an attempt to obtain confidential submissions and communications that could identify critics who spoke about him during a government review of the racing industry.
The demand forms part of V’landys’ defamation proceedings against racing website The Thoroughbred Report and its owner, Vicky Leonard. It seeks material held by Hazzard, who was commissioned by the Minns government to examine the $3.3 billion thoroughbred racing industry.
Hazzard, a former NSW attorney-general and health minister, interviewed dozens of industry participants before submitting his report in July. The review has not been made public.
The subpoena calls for communications between Hazzard, Leonard and her associates concerning V’landys, along with submissions mentioning him. It does not require Hazzard to hand over the full report.
Hazzard and the NSW Government are challenging the subpoena. They were represented by separate lawyers during a brief appearance in the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Hazzard said the review depended on participants believing their identities and comments would remain confidential.
“As a former NSW health minister and attorney-general, I agreed to undertake a review of the Thoroughbred Racing Act for the NSW government. At all times, the review process was predicated on those making submissions feeling confident that their submissions would be treated confidentially,” he said.
“I expected and believed that the process would be respected by all in the industry and until receipt of the subpoena I believe that is precisely what had happened.”
He said he was concerned that the review had been drawn into separate defamation proceedings and that it was for the NSW Government to decide when the report should be released.
V’landys is suing over an article which questioned whether his full-time leadership of the NRL was distracting him from his long-standing role as chief executive of Racing NSW. He claims the article contained misinformation about the racing industry under his leadership and wrongly suggested that his rugby league duties were affecting his responsibilities in racing.
V’landys regarded the article as a call to action against him because it included an invitation for readers to make submissions to Hazzard’s review. He is overseas and declined to comment.
The dispute could have wider implications for government reviews if people who provided confidential evidence were identified through court proceedings.
Leonard has also sought documents from the Australian Rugby League Commission relating to V’landys and previously pursued access to his medical records, but abandoned those efforts in May.
Speculation has continued within racing about the contents of Hazzard’s report and the funding of V’landys’ defamation case, which is being led by barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC. Racing Minister David Harris told parliamentary hearings in August that he did not know whether Racing NSW was paying the legal costs, adding that the issue was a matter for the organisation’s board.
The subpoena comes almost a year after V’landys learned details of a confidential meeting between Hazzard and members of the NSW Trainers Association. Hazzard said at the time that he would not breach the trust of those who had provided information and stressed his independence.
Hazzard’s report could affect Racing NSW’s extensive commercial and regulatory powers, which are backed by state legislation. V’landys has been on long-service leave from Racing NSW since July, when he became acting NRL chief executive following Andrew Abdo’s departure.
He became full-time executive chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission last month and is due to leave racing in five weeks after 22 years in charge.
